The violence is as gory and kinetic as a video game in this red-blooded microverse, where killing is strictly a job for the boys.
While parts of Deliver Us From Evil do seem in some way derived, inspired, or simply reminiscent of other action thrillers, there’s enough from Hwang and Lee’s performances to keep things fresh and engaging. Despite the top cast and high action quotient, the film is less than the sum of its parts, and is really just too familiar and lacking in ambition to ever be truly memorable.
Crisp and beautiful as the movie’s visuals are, writer/director Hong Won-chan never loses sight of the fact that every scene of this movie represents a tragic, senseless loss of human life. Hwang, his face almost always covered in beads of sweat, is a very persuasive and impassive action hero and Lee is creepy and uproariously over the top. He gets the more cartoonish role, but no scene featuring his menace, Hwang’s blend of determination and desperation, or both, could ever wear out its welcome.
The film is handled with seemingly effortless proficiency and, improbable as it certainly is, it delivers the goods in the action department. As with so many Asian action films, there is a no-nonsense, straight-faced approach to the storytelling; the ferociously mounted action sequences have a distinct edge that delivers a visceral punch missing from most action offerings from Hollywood.
The violence is as gory and kinetic as a video game in this red-blooded microverse, where killing is strictly a job for the boys. It’ll get your blood pumping, but it won’t show you much of anything you haven’t seen before. While parts of Deliver Us From Evil do seem in some way derived, inspired, or simply reminiscent of other action thrillers, there’s enough from Hwang and Lee’s performances to keep things fresh and engaging.
Light up the camera with emotion and violence.
After a little girl is kidnapped, a government-agent-turned-mercenary is forced to re-emerge when he learns the incident is closely connected to him. However, when an infamous gangster learns who has entered the country and is finally within his grasp, he goes on a bloody rampage to thwart the ex-agent’s rescue mission.
Derived, inspired, or simply reminiscent of other action thrillers
Hwang Jung-min as Kim In-nam
Lee Jung-jae as Ray
Park Jeong-min as Yui
Choi Hee-seo as Seo Young-joo
Park So-yi as Yoo-min
Movie Information
Genre: Drama, Action
Original Language: English
Director: Won-Chan Hong
Producer: Chul-Yong Kim
Writer: Won-Chan Hong
Release Date (Streaming): May 25, 2021
Runtime: 1h 48m
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